21 November 2007

The Big Read: Rebecca -- Daphne du MaurierChapters 13-15

Chapter 13 -- In which Mrs. Danvers has a super-sketchy visitor.

"You must be very brave," he would say, "I am afraid you must be prepared for a great shock."

AS IF. As if Frith would break anything to her gently. Rather, he'd dump it on her, and then when she freaked out, he's say, "Ah. Yes. Well, the first Mrs. de Winter was always so stalwart at times like this."

Also, was that just one of those random, uncontrollable thoughts, or was that a semi-attractive daydream?

Now she's sneaking cookies, and she's afraid the servants will see:

I went and ate them in the woods, in case one of the servants should see me on the lawn from the windows, and then go and tell the cook that they did not think Mrs. de Winter cared for the food prepared in the kitchen, as they had just seen her filling herself with fruit and biscuits. The cook would be offended, and perhaps go to Mrs. Danvers.

I can't imagine living in such fear. And the fear is so much of her own making. I realize that much of it originally stems from her personality and the class issues, but if she wants it to change, she's got to stand up. I also feel like her fears are snowballing.

One of the odd things I'm discovering about reading this so slowly is that each time I pick the book up, a good amount of time has gone by for me, so I keep expecting the narrator to have had a revelation in the meantime. I know that makes absolutely zero sense, but I feel a little jolt every time I start again and discover that she's still stuck in the same place I left her. (Makes me think of the story "Red wolf, red wolf" by W. P. Kinsella.)

Rather telling that she's so happy with Maxim away from Manderley. And that she realizes it. There's something off about the way she describes it, though -- as if Maxim is a schoolteacher. Again, yick.

She totally brought Jasper on her walk so he'd run off to The Beach of Death. (And, yes, for companionship, since he's one of the few at Manderley she's comfortable with...)

"I done nothing," he repeated, "I never told no one. I don't want to be put to the asylum." A tear rolled down his dirty face.

AH HA! What has Ben never told, and who threatened him with the asylum? ?? ???

Oh. That's who threatened him. Yikes. But what hasn't he told?

The scene with Mr. Favell STRESSED. ME. OUT. Why would Mrs. Danvers have anything to do with him? He doesn't seem like the sort she'd spend time with. He sounded so... fleshy. Is he a blackmailer? Why did he keep trying to get Mrs.deW2 to go for a ride with him? Was it so that other people would see them together, as a way to start gossip about her? Am I the most paranoid person on the planet?

Why are there fresh flowers in Rebecca's room? Is it because Maxim can't let go, or is it because Mrs. Danvers can't? Or is Mrs. Danvers using the room as a Secret Love Nest? (Okay, that last one was just ridiculous.)

Then I heard a step behind me and turning round I saw Mrs. Danvers. I shall never forget the expression on her face. Triumphant, gloating, excited in a strange unhealthy way. I felt very frightened.

No kidding. I'm terrified, and I'm just reading it. It's funny that I question the narrator's reliability when it comes to almost everything else, but when Mrs. Danvers does stuff like this, I take her at her word.

I couldn't take notes at all during that scene. Yow. Mrs. Danvers wins, man. She's way scarier than Hannibal Lecter.

"Sometimes I wonder," she whispered. "Sometimes I wonder if she comes back here to Manderley and watches you and Mr. de Winter together."

A ghostly Rebecca would be less frightening than what is suggested by this whole scene, which is that Mrs. Danvers is doing the watching for her dead mistress.

Chapter 15 -- In which our narrator meets Maxim's grandmother and overhears a blowout in the library.

Beatrice drives like Agatha Raisin.

This is the first time she's made me laugh in ages and ages, and it was probably inadvertent. (On the narrator's part, I mean, not du Maurier's):

I had an uneasy feeling we might be asked to spend the approaching Christmas with Beatrice. Perhaps I could have influenza.

Ooooooooh. Mr. Favell was Rebecca's cousin. So what was her background? He had money, what with that car and all, but he sure didn't strike me as Maxim's type, class-wise. Or are we talking New Money vs. Old Money? There's clearly something going on there -- Beatrice didn't want to talk about him (which seems odd in itself) and:

"I did not take to him much," I said."No," said Beatrice. "I don't blame you."

And she mentions that she was very seldom at Manderley when Rebecca was alive. What's THAT all about? Holy cow, these three chapters were HUGE.

The only thing that mattered to me was that Maxim should never come to hear of it. One day I might tell Frank Crawley, but not yet, not for quite a while.

Again, she doesn't feel that she can talk with her own husband. (Not that I can really blame her -- it isn't as if he's reacted very well in the past when she's tried to talk to him.)

Whoa. What do you want to bet that Mrs. Danvers'll blame Mrs.deW2 for the scene with Maxim?

Nice to see that Maxim was so happy to be reunited with his new wife. Yeesh.

Comments

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I had forgotten about the tour of Rebecca's room. Most impressive.

I think this scene provides some of the evidence for those people who look for a lesbian connection between Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca, at least on Mrs. Danvers part. This kind of obsession could come out of a grief for an intense love. Though I think it could also come out of the grief of a strange intense maternal-type love, too.

(Diana Rigg, who played Mrs. Danvers in a TV production, said in an interview that she thought Mrs. Danvers was not aware of the lesbian attraction she felt for Rebecca. I think that may be analyzing a literary character way too much.)

I found Beatrice and Giles interesting in this section. Giles is portrayed as pretty much a dimwit and no prize. And, I'm sorry, Beatrice is entertaining but a model for those early twentieth century British country aristocrats who are proud of how little they know. Yet these two have a good relationship. When Giles calls home while he's away, he talks with his wife and shares the news of what's going on where he is. He doesn't just talk with the servants the way Maxim does. When Giles comes home by train, Beatrice knows when he will be arriving and wants to be there to greet him.

I don't see how anyone could ever mistake them for romantic figures. Yet they appear to have a good marriage.

I also wondered about whether Mrs deW2 secretly wanted Maxim to die and free her from Manderly, but forgot to jot it down. Wasn't it a nice feeling without him around? Until she visits the Beach of Death, as you so aptly named it.

I didn't notice what a great relationship Beatrice and her husband seem to have, Gail, it just seemed so normal! Which of course makes a great contrast to the de Winters.

I'm sure those who are no lover of Beatrice (Gail...) probably got a good chuckle from the part where Granny de Winter was shocked senseless by the idea that Beatrice gave anyone a BOOK as a gift. And, I'll admit, Giles Lacey at Christmas (and in general?) sounds like a cross between Prince Charles and Homer Simpson. But true love can be pretty unromantic.

Huge inconsistency by Mrs. DeW2 during the Awful Granny Visit. One minute she's saying, "I felt rather exhausted, and wondered, rather shocked at my callous thought, why old people were such a strain. WORSE THAN YOUNG CHILDREN OR PUPPIES BECAUSE ONE HAD TO BE POLITE." (Em-PHA-sis added.) But, by the bottom of that very page, she's wishing, "that I could lay my hands upon her face and take the years away." The she goes on to lament how everyone speaks to the old lady like she's a child, and yearns to know the old lady's thoughts. So. Is everyone in this book bipolar?

I'm finally caught up (ahead actually because I couldn't stop). I have to say, I didn't read any lesbian vibes in Mrs. Danvers' character, just creepy creepy creepiness. Also creepy was the way that Mrs. deW2 had wandered around the room examining things, smelling the nightgown, rather than being repulsed by the whole thing. Like she'd gotten caught up in the Cult of Rebecca, too.

What struck me as odd was that Mrs. D and Icky Favell were in Rebecca's room - it's strange enough that they're meeting in secret but what's in her room? Are they just feeling nostalgic?